Ara Pacis + Villa Giulia

For sketching class we visited both the Ara Pacis and the Villa Giulia...

The ara pacis is an alter from the time of augustus that was constructed on the Campus Martius to celebrate the reign of peace and prosperity that Augustus had brought to Rome. Today, it is housing in a museum designed by Richard Meier. It was the first modern building constructed from the ground up in the city center since the 30's, and cause a lot of controversy as a result. I loved the design, I thought it was simple, elegant, a nice partii. I sketched an interior 1 pt section perspective which i will upload when i get my sketchbook back (we turn them in tomorrow).

Villa Giulia was a wonderful villa, a nice retreat from the city. It smelled so much fresher in the garden then anywhere else in Rome! The building definitely came secondary to the outdoor space, seen most clearly in the Semicircular arcade enclosing the primary garden space (pictured below). The Nymphaeum was also lovely! I have never seen an outdoor space like it as part of a residence before. One of the students accidentally dropped her sketchbook down onto the platform, so the garden worker let us down there to retrieve it, so we ended up getting a exclusive preview!